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Phaneendra Sivangula, product designer and HCI researcher

Phaneendra Sivangula is a product designer and HCI researcher with 5+ years of experience across healthcare, fintech, hospitality SaaS, cybersecurity and AI wearables. He is currently at Apple in User Studies Research (Data & ML Operations). Before that he was Founding Product Designer at KOS AI, a graduate researcher at the Rutgers HCI Lab for Health & Sustainability, and a product designer at Fountane, FactSet, GlaxoSmithKline and NationsBenefits. He works across research, design strategy and prototyping in code, and has published research in JMIR Aging and ACM venues.

Plain-text versions: profile for reviewers, full site text, resume (PDF).

Selected work

Steady glucose: A glucose companion that changes habits, not just charts

Designing a gamified companion app and a wrist-worn wearable that turn glucose data into small, daily behavior changes.

Role: Founding Product Designer. Timeline: Jun - Sep 2025.

Problem: Glucose apps show charts after the fact. People saw their spikes, felt judged, and nothing about their day changed.

Approach: Diary studies, A/B tests and 20+ participants wearing three wearable concepts, to find which nudges actually changed habits.

Outcome: 30% fewer glucose spikes, three concepts validated, and part of a $2M pre-seed raise.

Full case study as text

Hotels, rebuilt: Redesigning a 26-year-old hotel management system for 7,000+ hotels

ASI PMS runs 7,000+ US hotels and 1B+ bookings a year, but it was built for small, simple properties. We researched, prioritized and redesigned it for complex, multi-role hotels, and shipped the MVP in 8 months.

Role: Product Designer. Timeline: Aug 2023 - Aug 2024 (MVP in 8 months).

Problem: A 26-year-old PMS built for small hotels. Setup took 2-4 weeks and staff worked around it with spreadsheets and paper.

Approach: Worked shifts in 12 hotels, picked 3 roles out of 7, and redesigned 4 core flows on a modular design system.

Outcome: MVP live in 8 months. Top 3 PMS on Booking.com, an estimated +40% adoption, setup in 24 hours or less.

Full case study as text

Breathe easier: Making air quality something the residents of Elizabeth, NJ act on

BREATHE Elizabeth turns live air quality and heat data into simple, local guidance for residents, staff and researchers. Built with the community under a $1M NSF grant, and released in 36 weeks.

Role: UX Researcher, Designer & Community Engagement Manager. Timeline: Apr - Dec 2024 (36 weeks).

Problem: Elizabeth faces serious air quality issues, and residents judged the air by smell and sight, with no easy way to see real data.

Approach: Community-based research with residents, staff and nonprofits, then a workshop that turned findings into three products.

Outcome: A live dashboard, sensor map and community boards, released to the residents of Elizabeth.

Full case study as text

Secure APIs: Making API security make sense to the engineers who run it

CloudVector's API security platform had the data but not the experience. In 60 days we redesigned the Enterprise and Community Editions around what SecOps engineers and admins actually need to see and do.

Role: Interaction Designer. Timeline: 2 months (60 days).

Problem: A powerful API security product buried its value under raw data, which kept user acquisition and retention low.

Approach: Product strategy first (brief, competitors, concept and scenario maps), then workflows, sketches, wireframes and visuals.

Outcome: Redesigned Enterprise and Community Editions, a standout at the RSA conference and an award-winning design.

Full case study as text

Market signals: Helping traders see, and act on, indications of interest

Indications of interest (IOIs) tell traders who wants to buy or sell, but they were scattered and hard to read. In 30 days, I designed a FactSet IOI platform that captures, analyzes and presents them inside the trader's workflow.

Role: UX Researcher & UX Designer (solo). Timeline: 30 days.

Problem: Traders had no easy way to capture, compare and act on IOIs inside their order workflow.

Approach: Contextual interviews with 8 traders, affinity mapping, 6-up ideation, two concepts, then moderated usability tests with 5 users.

Outcome: An IOI app with live market data, buy and sell side by side, custom filters and one-click routing from linked apps.

Full case study as text

Care, delivered: Giving a 5-year-old OTC store a makeover seniors could actually use

NationsOTC lets Medicare and Medicaid members spend their insurance benefits on over-the-counter health products. In 40 days, I redesigned the legacy store for members aged 55 and up, without touching its old code.

Role: UX Designer (design lead). Timeline: 40 days.

Problem: A complex, dated store built on old tech, used by seniors only because nothing else let them spend their benefits.

Approach: Persona-led experience audit, a new design system applied area by area, accessibility fixes and constant stakeholder feedback.

Outcome: An adaptive desktop and mobile store, 3x the daily orders, and a Spot Award for the work.

Full case study as text

Experience

Education

Research publications